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A Look Back At Hopkins-Kovalev

Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City touching the Atlantic Ocean. Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev, November 8, 2014. Given the dominant role that Hopkins’s age played in the promotion, one might have thought of the event as “The Old Man and the Sea.”
Hopkins’s accomplishments are different from those of any fighter who has come before him. His hairline has receded. There’s a lot of gray in his beard. Two months shy of his fiftieth birthday, he still moves like an elite athlete in and out of the ring. No fighter has performed as well at such at advanced age.
Hopkins is passionate about Hopkins and one of the best self-promoters in boxing. During an October 21 media conference call, he declared, “I just want to make sure that, when there is debate about Bernard Hopkins’s legacy, people will be up all hours of the night debating arguments on trying to figure out where we put this. Or do we start this new label with Bernard at the top and anybody else that comes after that underneath. To me, the best fighter ever is Sugar Ray Robinson. The best fighter after that is Muhammad Ali. Then the debate starts.”
If one is ranking fighters on the basis of how they performed in their mid-to-late forties, Hopkins is on the short list above George Foreman and Archie Moore. He’s a master of psychological warfare. “Psychological warfare, you will never win against me,” Bernard says. But he’s quick to add, “I don’t look at my victories as getting in somebody’s head. I look at it as being the better fighter, better plan, better preparation, and I took care of my business.”
Taking care of business results from superb genetic gifts (“God-given physical ability”), dedicated preparation (“I’ve never gotten bored with boxing”), a great boxing mind (“No one studies his opponent and understands his opponent more than I do”), and an understanding of one’s limitations (“Everybody has weakness; even I. There is no perfect fighter, and there will never be”).
Also, while Hopkins fights by the rules, the only rule for a prizefight in his world is that there are no rules unless the referee enforces them. In that regard, he has been known to push the envelope.
“In most of Bernard’s fights,” Paulie Malignaggi notes, “Bernard ends up being the referee.”
Not everyone appreciates Hopkins’s style of fighting, which involves shutting down an opponent’s offense through tactics that are aesthetically unpleasing to many fans. Jimmy Tobin expressed that dissatisfaction, writing, “Hopkins’s fights have become a chore to watch, though saying as much is liable to have you branded a simpleton for failing to appreciate the nuance of noogies.”
Meanwhile, Hopkins has compensated for the perceived lack of action in his fights by marketing himself as “The Executioner” . . . “B-Hop” . . . and most recently . . . “The Alien.” Perhaps in his next incarnation, he’ll call himself “The Easter Bunny.”
The evaluation and marketing of Hopkins always comes back to his age. “This doesn’t happen the way it’s happening for me at this particular time in my life,” he said recently. “Just enjoy it, understand it, and realize that you might not be alive to see it again.”
The other side of the coin is the nagging question of what Bernard’s success says about the current state of boxing.
“What if Michael Jordan came back tomorrow,” Bart Barry wrote, “and won an NBA championship? It would be a massive event, an orgy of media celebration, as one of the world’s most famous athletes returned to a field of glory and dominated at an age that was absurd. But once the orgy got tired and broke up, what would it say about professional basketball that a man in his sixth decade [Jordan is 51] was able to dominate the best professionals in their twenties? Were Michael Jordan still able to ply his craftsmanship and win titles outclassing LeBron James and friends in championship games, the NBA would know there was something dreadfully wrong with its product.”
Friend and foe alike realize that there’s something dreadfully wrong now with boxing. The best rarely fight the best. Boxers sometimes win “world championships” without championship skills and without ever having fought a world-class fighter.
Thus, on the plus side of the ledger for Bernard, Barry continues, “Hopkins is an embarrassment for most of his prizefighting countrymen, showing at age 49 a willingness to fail that few of today’s best American fighters have shown since their bouts got computer-matched in the amateurs. The fight that best represents our sport in 2014 is one in which a man nearing his fiftieth birthday is challenging and imperiling himself more than any of our standard bearers in their primes.”
The man Hopkins chose to fight to solidify his legacy was Sergey Kovalev.
Kovalev came out of the Russian amateur boxing system. It has been said that he had a working relationship with some of the less savory elements in Russian society at an earlier time in his life. Of course, Hopkins wasn’t a choirboy when he was young either.
At the start of his pro career, Kovalev relocated to the United States under the guidance of manager Egis Klimas. He now lives in Florida with his wife and newly-born son. His English is rapidly improving but is constricted by a limited vocabulary.
Sergey enjoys basic pleasures. “I like nice cars,” he says. “I like to travel. I like action. Fishing is too slow for me; too much waiting. I love to drive fast, but I don’t love speeding tickets for driving too fast. Friendship is important to me. I love my family. I miss my family and friends who are still in Russia.”
He loves animals. In 2011, Kovalev adopted a three-month old Yorkshire terrier named Picasso. One year later, Picasso jumped out of a moving car and was killed on the road. Sergey still carries a photo of himself with Picasso on his smart phone.
Kovalev has a direct matter-of-fact approach to boxing. Answering a question on a media conference call, he acknowledged the possibility that he could lose to Hopkins. When pressed by a reporter who followed up with, “Are you not one hundred percent certain that you’re going to beat Hopkins?” Sergey answered, “This is boxing. I can repeat for you, special for you, this is boxing and everything in boxing can happen. This is not swimming. This is not cycling. This is not running. This is boxing.”
In private, Kovalev was more expansive, saying, “The fans, the media; they don’t know what it is to be a fighter because they have never been punched in the face by a fighter. I feel fear. I am not a target. I don’t like to get hit. In boxing, any punch from your opponent can be the last for you. It is very dangerous. I knew Magomed Abdusalamov from the national team in Russia. He was a friend; not my best friend, but a friend. I don’t ever want to be like he is today. “
Atlantic City has fallen on hard times in recent years. Gambling revenue has dropped by roughly fifty percent since peaking at $5.2 billion in 2006. Trump Plaza, Revel, and Showboat closed their doors in 2014. Trump Taj Mahal might follow suit in the near future.
Still, there was a nice buzz for Hopkins-Kovalev with Bernard carrying much of the promotional load.
“I am fighter,” Kovalev had said at the kick-off press conference in New York. “My English is poor. But I am sure that Bernard will talk enough to promote the fight for both of us.” Thereafter, Sergey informed the media, “Bernard talks and fights. I just fight. Say and do are two different things.” Kovalev also indicated that, given his limited English, he understood only about ten percent of what Hopkins said.
“None of Bernard’s talk will bother Sergey,” Don Turner (Kovalev’s first trainer in the United States and now a fight-week assistant to trainer John David Jackson) said. “If I had a fighter and talk was bothering him, I’d tell my fighter to find another job.”
One thing that did bother Team Kovalev though, was Hopkins’s penchant for skirting the rules, conning referees, and fouling during fights.
“He can cut you from the head, from the elbow, from any part of his body,” Sergey noted. “I hope and I wish that this fight will be very clean and fair. But any way I need to get a victory, dirty fight or clean fight, for me it doesn’t matter. I am going to fight a clean fight, but I will fight dirty if Hopkins will fight dirty.”
“Sergey says he wants a fair fight,” Hopkins responded at the final pre-fight press conference. “You’re the Krusher. Make your own fair fight.”
The oddsmakers thought that Kovalev would do just that; a belief based in large measure on his high knockout percentage. Hopkins acknowledged his adversary’s power, saying, “I have the same thoughts on Kovalev that most people do. He’s a dangerous puncher. He has a ninety percent knockout rate. If he can punch like everyone says he can punch, there might not be a second chance.”
Still, Bernard voiced confidence in the outcome of the fight, declaring, “Kovalev only had to be one-dimensional because the guys he fought he knocked out. But now you’re stepping up to a different level. You’re stepping up to the professor, the teacher. You’re stepping up into a different neighborhood. The other neighborhoods, you understood. But this neighborhood is kind of strange.”
One day before the fight, Oscar De La Hoya (now Hopkins’s promoter) offered his thoughts on the upcoming bout. “I fought Pernell Whitaker,” Oscar said. “I fought Mayweather. I could hit them. But not one punch I threw against Hopkins landed the way I wanted it to land.”
“This is one of those fights where the energy level before is crazy and everyone is saying either guy can win,” Naazim Richardson (Hopkins’s trainer) added. “And when it’s over, people will be sitting around saying, ‘Is that all Kovalev has?’”
“Kovalev has a good amateur background,” Richardson continued. “He knows how to box. He’s not just a puncher. But Kovalev has never been past eight rounds, and now he’s fighting the master of twelve. How does Kovalev handle that? What happens if Kovalev can’t hit Bernard the way he wants? What happens if Kovalev hits Bernard with his best shot and nothing happens? Kovalev punches hard. We know that. His power is real. But so was Tarver’s power and Pavlik’s power. And Tarver and Pavlik had knockouts over legitimate champions. Kovalev doesn’t have that.”
“I need to do what I do and do it very well,” Kovalev said of his date with Hopkins.
“The sweet science is not based on only one thing you can do particularly well,” Bernard countered.
Main Events and Golden Boy (which co-promoted the fight) had hoped for a crowd of ten thousand. The announced attendance of 8,545 fell short of that goal. There was a horrible two-hour stretch in the middle of the card that consisted of 114 minutes of waiting and six minutes of boxing. But anticipation ran high when Hopkins and Kovalev entered the ring.
Kovalev made his presence forcefully known two minutes into the bout when he maneuvered Hopkins into a corner and dropped him with a short straight right as Bernard was sliding out to his left. It was a flash knockdown. A clubbing right hand that landed high on Hopkins’s head later in the stanza probably did more damage. But Sergey knew now that he had a working game plan.
Thereafter, Kovalev fought a patient measured fight, controlling the distance between the fighters in a way that Hopkins was always under pressure yet unable to hold and maul. It wasn’t a fast pace. It never is for Hopkins, which usually benefits the older man. But here, the pace meant that Sergey (who had gone eight rounds only once in his career and fought a full three rounds only five times) was less likely to drown in the deep water of the late rounds.
A fighter’s game plan sometimes changes as a fight goes on. Kovalev’s didn’t. Unlike most Hopkins opponents, he was able to contest the battle on his own terms. He was faster that Hopkins had thought he’d be. Or maybe Bernard was slower. One way to beat Kovalev is to get off first, hit him just hard enough to keep him off balance, and force Sergey to reset. Hopkins knew that. But at age 49, he couldn’t do it.
Kovalev jabbed effectively to the body throughout the bout and landed some good chopping right hands up top. John David Jackson said afterward that he would have liked his charge to have thrown more body punches during exchanges on the inside. That said; Sergey did damage with the body shots that he threw and also with blows to the biceps and shoulder.
There were rounds when Hopkins set traps in the hope the Kovalev would blunder into one of them, and other times when survival seemed uppermost in his mind. “When Bernard got hurt,” Jackson noted, “he’d go into his shell, gather himself together for a few rounds, then try another attack.”
There was drama in the fight in large measure because one of the combatants was Bernard Hopkins.
Then, in round twelve, the drama escalated. Everyone in the arena (including Hopkins) knew that Bernard needed his first knockout in ten years to win. He went for it. And got rocked in return. That led to some big exchanges and ended with Kovalev battering Hopkins around the ring while Bernard struggled courageously to stay on his feet until the final bell.
One could make an argument for giving round seven to Hopkins. Kovalev didn’t do much in that stanza, and Bernard snapped Sergey’s head back with two good right hands. Other than that, it was all Kovalev. The judges’ scores were 120-107, 120-107, and 120-106. Kovalev outlanded Hopkins by a 166-to-65 margin. Bernard averaged a meager five punches landed per round.
After the fight, Hopkins handled his defeat with dignity and grace.
“Sergey is the real deal,” he acknowledged at the post-fight press conference. “I felt like a middleweight in there with a cruiserweight . . . I had some success here and there, but I never got him off his game . . . He was the better man tonight.”
There was also a bit of humor when a questioner asked if Hopkins would fight again.
“Asking me about fighting again now is like asking a woman who’s just out of nine hours labor about having another baby,” Bernard responded.
Three days later, Hopkins told Fox Sports that he planned on having at least one more fight, most likely at 168 pounds. That would take him past age fifty in the ring.
Kovalev has a bright future ahead of him. Prior to fighting Hopkins, Sergey had declared, “I want to get some lessons from the professor of boxing. I want to get some experience from this fight that can make me better for another fight.”
He achieved that goal and got the win. He’s an exciting action fighter and the best light-heavyweight in the world. But before one gets too carried away with superlatives, let’s not forget that the man Kovalev just beat is 49 years old. A remarkable 49-year-old, but 49 just the same.
In recent years, Hopkins has alluded to retirement. “When I leave, you all are going to miss me,” he told the media at a press conference last year. “Where else are you going to get these sound bites?” Then, on a more pensive note, Bernard added, “Boxing is always going to be here. That’s just the way it is. Boxing will be here way after me and everyone else in it now is gone.”
It’s impossible to know with certainty what Hopkins will do next. He likes to steer his own ship and will continue to confound. When he joined Golden Boy in 2004, one would have been hard-pressed to find an observer who thought that his tenure with the company would outlast Richard Schaefer’s. But here we are in 2014 and that eventuality has come to pass.
Prior to Hopkins-Kovalev, there was a lot of talk about Hopkins “punking out” if things went against him inside the ring. If Sergey was dominating, if Sergey was landing heavy blows, Bernard would fake an injury or instigate a disqualification rather than go out on his shield.
That didn’t happen. In round twelve, Hopkins was in extremis, unable to fully control his mind and body, facing the onslaught of a devastating puncher. In those perilous moments, Bernard didn’t look for a way out. He put everything on the line and fought with remarkable courage and heart; the courage and heart of a champion.
If round twelve of Hopkins-Kovalev turns out to have been the final round of the remarkable ring career of Bernard Hopkins, it would be a good round on which to end.
Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book (The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens) has just been published by Counterpoint.
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Jorge Garcia is the TSS Fighter of the Month for April

Jorge Garcia has a lot in common with Mexican countrymen Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza. In common with those two, both reigning world title-holders, Garcia is big for his weight class and bubbled out of obscurity with a triumph forged as a heavy underdog in a match contested on American soil.
Garcia had his “coming of age party” on April 19 in the first boxing event at the new Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California (roughly 35 miles north of San Diego), a 7,500-seat facility whose primary tenant is an indoor soccer team. It was a Golden Boy Promotions event and in the opposite corner was a Golden Boy fighter, Charles Conwell.
A former U.S. Olympian, Conwell was undefeated (21-0, 16 KOs) and had won three straight inside the distance since hooking up with Golden Boy whose PR department ballyhooed him as the most avoided fighter in the super welterweight division. At prominent betting sites, Conwell was as high as a 12/1 favorite.
The lanky Garcia was 32-4 (26 KOs) heading in, but it was easy to underestimate him as he had fought extensively in Tijuana where the boxing commission is notoriously docile and in his home state of Sinaloa. This would be only his second fight in the U.S. However, it was noteworthy in hindsight that three of his four losses were by split decision.
Garcia vs. Conwell was a robust affair. He and Conwell were credited with throwing 1451 punches combined. In terms of punches landed, there was little to choose between them but the CompuBox operator saw Garcia landing more power punches in eight of the 12 rounds. At the end, the verdict was split but there was no controversy.
An interested observer was Sebastian Fundora who was there to see his sister Gabriela defend her world flyweight titles. Sebastian owns two pieces of the 154-pound world title where the #1 contender per the WBO is Xander Zayas who keeps winning, but not with the verve of his earlier triumphs.
With his upset of Charles Conwell, Jorge Garcia has been bumped into the WBO’s #2 slot. Regardless of who he fights next, Garcia will earn the biggest payday of his career.
Honorable mention: Aaron McKenna
McKenna was favored to beat veteran campaigner Liam Smith in the co-feature to the Eubank-Benn battle this past Saturday in London, but he was stepping up in class against a former world title-holder who had competed against some of the top dogs in the middleweight division and who had famously stopped Chris Eubank Jr in the first of their two encounters. Moreover, the venue, Tottenham Hotspur, the third-largest soccer stadium in England, favored the 36-year-old Liverpudlian who was accustomed to a big fight atmosphere having fought Canelo Alvarez before 50,000-plus at Arlington Stadium in Texas.
McKenna, from the small town of Monaghan, Ireland, wasn’t overwhelmed by the occasion. With his dad Feargal in his corner and his fighting brother Stephen McKenna cheering him on from ringside, Aaron won a wide decision in his first 12-round fight, punctuating his victory by knocking Smith to his knees with a body punch in the 12th round. In fact, if he hadn’t had a point deducted for using his elbow, the Irishman would have pitched a shutout on one of the scorecards.
“There might not be a more impressive example of a fighter moving up in class,” wrote Tris Dixon of the 25-year-old “Silencer” who improved his ledger to 20-0 (10).
Photo credits: Garcia/Conwell photo compliments of Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; McKenna-Smith provided by Mark Robinson/Matchroom
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Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Feudal bragging rights belong to Chris Eubank Jr. who out-lasted Conor Benn to
emerge victorious by unanimous decision in a non-title middleweight match held in
London on Saturday.
Fighting for their family heritage Eubank (35-3, 26 KOs) and Benn (23-1, 14 KOs)
continued the battle between families started 35 years ago by their fathers at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.
More than 65,000 fans attended.
Though Eubank Jr. had a weight and height advantage and a record of smashing his
way to victory via knockout, he had problems hurting the quicker and more agile Benn.
And though Benn had the advantage of moving up two weight divisions and forcing
Eubank to fight under a catch weight, the move did not weaken him much.
Instead, British fans and boxing fans across the world saw the two family rivals pummel
each other for all 12 rounds. Neither was able to gain separation.
Eubank looked physically bigger and used a ramming left jab to connect early in the
fight. Benn immediately showed off his speed advantage and surprised many with his
ability to absorb a big blow.Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Benn scrambled around with his quickness and agility and scored often with bigcounters.
It took him a few rounds to stop overextending himself while delivering power shots.
In the third round Benn staggered Eubank with a left hook but was unable to follow up
against the dangerous middleweight who roared back with flurries of blows.
Eubank was methodic in his approach always moving forward, always using his weight
advantage via the shoulder to force Benn backward. The smaller Benn rocketed
overhand rights and was partly successful but not enough to force Eubank to retreat.
In the seventh round a right uppercut snapped Benn’s head violently but he was
undeterred from firing back. Benn’s chin stood firm despite Eubank’s vaunted power and
size advantage.
“I didn’t know he had that in him,” Eubank said.
Benn opened strong in the eighth round with furious blows. And though he connected
he was unable to seriously hurt Eubank. And despite being drained by the weight loss,
the middleweight fighter remained strong all 12 rounds.
There were surprises from both fighters.
Benn was effective targeting the body. Perhaps if he had worked the body earlier he
would have found a better result.
With only two rounds remaining Eubank snapped off a right uppercut again and followed
up with body shots. In the final stanza Eubank pressed forward and exchanged with the
smaller Benn until the final bell. He simply out-landed the fighter and impressed all three
judges who scored it 116-112 for Eubank.
Eubank admitted he expected a knockout win but was satisfied with the victory.
“I under-estimated him,” Eubank said.
Benn was upset by the loss but recognized the reasons.
“He worked harder toward the end,” said Benn.
McKenna Wins
In his first test in the elite level Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) showed his ability to fight
inside or out in soundly defeating former world champion Liam Smith (33-5-1, 20 KOs)
by unanimous decision to win a regional WBA middleweight title.
Smith has made a career out of upsetting young upstarts but discovered the Irish fighter
more than capable of mixing it up with the veteran. It was a rough fight throughout the
12 rounds but McKenna showed off his abilities to fight as a southpaw or right-hander
with nary a hiccup.
McKenna had trained in Southern California early in his career and since that time he’s
accrued a variety of ways to fight. He was smooth and relentless in using his longer
arms and agility against Smith on the outside or in close.
In the 12 th round, McKenna landed a perfectly timed left hook to the ribs and down went
Smith. The former champion got up and attempted to knock out the tall
Irish fighter but could not.
All three judges scored in favor of McKenna 119-108, 117-109, 118-108.
Other Bouts
Anthony Yarde (27-3) defeated Lyndon Arthur (24-3) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. in a light heavyweight match. It was the third time they met. Yarde won the last two fights.
Chris Billam-Smith (21-2) defeated Brandon Glanton (20-3) by decision. It was his first
fight since losing the WBO cruiserweight world title to Gilberto Ramirez last November.
Viddal Riley (13-0) out-worked Cheavon Clarke (10-2) in a 12-round back-and-forth-contest to win a unanimous decision.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.
This is huge in British boxing.
Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
This is about family pride.
The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.
Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.
Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.
Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.
Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.
Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.
This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.
Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.
“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”
Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.
“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.
Eubank smiles.
“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.
Supporting Bout
Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.
“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.
McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.
It’s youth versus experience.
“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.
Monster in L.A.
Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.
It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.
Pomona Fights
Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.
Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.
Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).
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